Friday, October 28, 2011

It has been a long, long while my friends... Yet Again... and I do not have any grand excuses for my overlong absence other than my total and complete loss of blogging mojo... and unfortunately every other mojo I may have possessed fell into step right along behind it... and off they crept into the dark, and shadowed woodland... and me, being the curious sort I am, of course could do naught else save follow heedlessly and pell-mell into the darkness! And oh, my but what a dark and dreary place I found myself... the shadows stretched deep and long and no sunlight graced the darkened paths and I found myself quite alone most of the time... Thank Heavens, I did have the foresight to holdfast to my stitching bag 'ere I stepped into the unknown ~ thus finding solace here and there with my needle and thread in the faint traces of light filtering down through the shadows...

Thus I do not have a lot of grand stitching finishes to show for my long absence from Bloggiton... just a few wee finishes... nothing of any outstanding significance ~ no amazingly wonderful and artful finishes galore or beautiful Samplers as those glorious beauties that grace the blogs of stitchers extraordinaire such as ~ Siobhan ~ Margaret ~ Kathy Ellen ~ Catherine ~ Sally ~ Babs ~ Glenna ~ Tanya ~ Laurie ~ Carol ~ Lois ~ Lynn ~ Barbara and Jan ~ just to mention but a wee, wee handful of all the awe-inspiring needlewomen of renowned magnificence with whom I have had the ultimate pleasure in visiting your blogs... and those of you I have come to know as friends... sharing in your beautiful and inspiring needlework and your lives... your amazing stories... Your joys and laughter... your tears and sorrows... your perseverance in times of distress... your words of encouragement... Thank you all... And most of all I thank my dearest love, my Chief Inspector and my precious family... You all have been Angels unaware... And you remain rays of light through the shadows... Blessings in times of darkness.... if not for you all ~ and if not for the continued love and support of my Dearest and Precious Beloved, Chief Inspector and my Dear and oh, so precious family, and you, my dear friends, and of course my faithful stitching, I fear I would remain forever lost in the Dark Forest...

Well... enough of the darkness and on towards the light... Thus without further ado... a few stitchy finishes over time and a few finishes I had framed that I never got around to posting in the last long while...

And I also had this one framed last year. It is one of my favourite mouldings... Oh, I do Love this frame... I have several more finishes tucked away in a drawer that I want to have framed... and hopefully not too far away in the distant future... A stitcher can dream!

Loves Me... Loves Me Not...

by Stone and Thread...

Stitched with GAST and WDW Threads

on Cashel R & R Dark Cappuccino Linen...finished in November 2009...

And I also had this one framed a couple of years ago... and since my blogging has been nearly non-existent in the last two years, I have yet to post it.

And a few wee Christmas ornaments I stitched in the Winter of 2010 and early 2011 ~ Silly me did not write them down in my stitching journal, thus I have not a clue as to exactly when I stitched them...

And as always Mr Darcy is ever my faithful assistant with the photos... he so loves attention... And Roses...

Hmmm.... if I bide my time and stretch out here ever so nonchalantly... she will remember that she forgot something... she's always forgetting something... and she will leave the room and then they are mine... all mine...

I think I may have a couple of other finishes tucked away in a drawer... but they will keep until another time... And shhh... I dare not even mention the WIPs and UFOs... I do declare, there are far, far too many and I really must get busy with my needle... and since I got my new Spectacles a few weeks ago ~ many thanks to my darling, Chief Inspector ~ I can finally see what I am stitching, I seem to get a lot more accomplished! I can not believe Christmas is nigh upon us and I have so many ornaments I need to stitch...

And I just have to show a photo of my most current WIP and it is what I am stitching now ~ I first saw this darling design over on Siobhan's blog and you know I just had to start stitching it... It is so me, and reminds me of my sojourn in the Dark Forest... And yes, I do dance with squirrels whene're it strikes my Fancey... I was hoping to finish by Halloween... alas, me thinks not... Oh, well... Not to worry, for I am sure this one will hang in my home all the year 'round... It makes me smile...

And I could not blog without posting a photo of my sweet precious Angels... this was taken in August and is one of the most recent I have of them all together... Catalina, poor wee sweetpea had been crying and sweet pumpkin' Caleb was busy eating and sweet "Wee Willie" Benjamin just thought it was all so funny...

Jamie with Sweet "Wee Willie" Benjamin,

Sweetpea Catalina and Pumpkin Caleb with Brandy...

And later, if I don't disappear into the Dark Forest yet again, I hope to share with you some adventures of late... all the grandchildren's birthdays... my wee Jamie's romantic wedding by the seashore... a trip back into the days of yore at the Renaissance Faire... a Safari at the Zoo... just to mention a few... and then, whatever dreams may come along the way...

Hopefully, I will continue along this long and winding road out of the shadows and back into the light... as long as there is love... and family... and friends... wee shafts of sunlight filtering through the Dark Forest... precious rays of golden inspiration leading me ever towards the light and the road back home...

I finally had this one framed a while back...

And indeed, stitching is a sweet comfort to the soul...

I am sorry I have rambled on and on for such a long, long time... Thank you for visiting my dear readers and friends... may your days be Blessed and filled with love, joy and peace...

Sunday, January 2, 2011

It's been a long, long while my friends... and as the Olde Year fades gracefully into the New... I wanted to wish you all a Blessed and Joyous New Year filled with love... peace and contentment... prosperity... good health and good cheer... and a treasure trove of wonderfully glorious stitchy stash...

Quite a lot has happened in my life since my last post... I have been ill for a while and was in hospital... TIA's and such health related issues and heart-related issues... And then was laid off my job... Suffice it to say, it has been a year I do not mind leaving behind in the least... Of course with the exception of the precious blessings that were my gifts... I have been lurking quietly in the shadows of your blogs for these long months... admiring all your lovelies and oohhing and ahhhing from afar... I do hope to blog more frequently with the New Year and when I visit your blogs actually leave comments again rather than slipping quietly away without so much as a fare-thee-well... Oh, my... such long, long months it has been... and beginning again can be quite daunting to say the least and while I cannot hope to catch up in one post... I would like to share a wee bit of my life and loves with you... with the promise of more to come with the New Year...

And what better place to begin than with my grandchildren... "Grandchildren did you say... as in plural? As in more than one grandchild?" When I last blogged my dears, it was just after the birth of my sweet and precious grandson, Wee Willie... My only grandchild at the time... Fast forward to July of 2010 and Voila! Two more wee ones joined my family... Ah yes... I now have three wonderful and precious grandchildren whom I adore and cherish more and more with each day that passes... Thus without further ado... my story of the last year or so in photos... My daughter, Brandy and son-in-law Nick's sweet son... and my precious wee grandson, Caleb Nicholas...

Wee Caleb Nicholas

14 July 2010

And his wee precious cousin... Catalina Zoe... aka Rapunzel... her Mimi's pet name for her... ;) I did try ever so sweetly to convince my son, Elisha that it would be wonderful if Rapunzel was her middle name and even suggested they could give her two middle names... thus still using Zoe... Alas... he paid me no heed! May I introduce my son, Elisha and my future daughter-in-law Heather's daughter and my precious wee granddaughter, sweet Catalina Zoe 'Rapunzel'... She was a preemie... born five weeks early... she and wee Caleb are just two weeks apart...

Wee Catalina Zoe...

'Rapunzel...'

27 July 2010

Catalina with her Daddy...

8 August 2010

And the two sweethearts with Mimi just before Halloween... They both got to stay with me that evening while their parents were at Elisha's 30th Birthday Party...

My Precious...

Wee Caleb and Wee Catalina 'Rapunzel'

with Mimi Lizzy ~ 23 October 2010

Brandy, Nick and wee precious Caleb...

Elisha and his fiancee, Heather...

Wee Precious Catalina and her Daddy...

Trick or Treat...

it's Superbaby Caleb...

Superbaby Caleb and his Mommy, Brandy...

Zooming by to Trick or Treat at Mimi's...

Wee lamb Catalina... 'Rapunzel'

Trick or Treating at Mimi's...

Honey of an afternoon with Mimi and Pooh Bear...

Precious wee Caleb...

cozy afternoon with Mimi...

2 December 2010

Precious wee Catalina...

Cozy afternoon with Mimi...

2 December 2010

Wee Jamie, Danielle and sweet Benjamin moved to Winterville in August of 2009... Their absence tugs at the heartstrings and I miss them more keenly than words can say... My precious Benjamin ~ aka 'Wee Willie' to his Mimi ~ turned one year old on the 30th of June 2010...

Happy first birthday

precious Benjamin William...

Wee Willie at Halloween...

31 October 2010...

Trick or Treating with his Daddy...

Sweet Benjamin 'Wee Willie'...

Christmas 2010...

Benjamin 'Wee Willie' with Santa...

Jamie, Danielle and Benjamin 'Wee Willie'...

Christmas 2010...

Wee Caleb with Santa...

Precious wee Christmas Elf...

Christmas at Mimi's...

Brandy with wee Caleb...

Christmas at Mimi's...

Heather with wee Catalina...

Oh and did I mention she is a redhead? ;)

Sweet Catalina laughing with Mimi...

Lovely Christmas Card...

Mr Darcy enjoying the Christmas snow...

Whew... My goodness... but I do hope I have not bored you all to tears with all my 'catching up'... In truth it is but a wee sprinkling of sand in the hour glass of time... just a few wee chapters of my story in pictures... I will return with more of my journey in a few days... and this time I promise more of a stitchy 'catch up'... And as I cannot bid you adieu and Happy New Year without at least a couple of stitching photos... I will leave you with a photo of my Christmas Day new stitch and my New Year's Day stitchy beginning... I had every intention of taking a photo of my progress on my Christmas Day project... alas, time slipped away and I forgot and it is the wee hours of the morning now and I'm sure you all are tired... it will keep until next time...

My Christmas Day stitching project and a much loved Christmas gift from my heart...

Carriage House Samplings...

Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow...

28ct Vintage Examplar by Lakeside Linen...

with NPI silks...

and Gandalf the Grey taking a wee cat nap...

My New Year's Day new stitching project is Blackbird Designs ~ Anniversaries of the Heart... I am going to stitch them all on one piece of linen... Wish me luck, my dears... that's two new BAP's... Yes, I have lost my mind... {what wee bit I had left...} The Blackbird Designs Yahoo group also started a New Year's Anniversaries of the Heart SAL at the New Year...

Blackbird Designs...

Anniversaries of the Heart

Snow Garden...

28 ct R&R Iced Cappuccino Linen

with Gentle Art Sampler Threads

and Weeks Dye Works Threads...

Ring Out, Wild Bells

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

~ 1850 ~

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,

The flying cloud, the frosty light;

The year is dying in the night;

Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,

For those that here we see no more,

Ring out the feud of rich and poor,

Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,

And ancient forms of party strife;

Ring in the nobler modes of life,

With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,

The faithless coldness of the times;

Ring out, ring out thy mournful rhymes,

But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,

The civic slander and the spite;

Ring in the love of truth and right,

Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,

Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;

Ring out the thousand wars of old,

Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,

The larger heart, the kindlier hand;

Ring out the darkness of the land,

Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Auld Lang Syne

Robert Burns

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

and days of auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,

For auld lang syne,

We'll take a cup o' kindness yet

For auld lang syne...

Wishing you all Love, Joy, Peace, Health and many Blessings and lots of stitchy stash in the New Year...

Thank you all for stopping by and leaving your inspiring words of cheer and good will... they are ever a beacon...

Blessings always in stitches...

﻿

Lizzyxox

I am thankful for precious moments and precious memories... precious children and grandchildren... Love and friendship... Christmas and Blessings... and a New Year and New Beginnings...

All my scattering moments are taken up with my needle... ~ 1851 diary of Ellen Birdseye Wheaton

Welcome Friends ~

Come in and share a coffee by the hearth ~

Blessings...

May there always be work for your hands to do.May your purse always hold a coin or two.May the sun always shine upon your window pane.May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.May the hand of a friend always be near to you and May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.~~~~~~~~~

with blessing and kind fond thoughts...

About Me

Oftentimes you will find me “away with the faeries”... stitching peacefully under the Willow trees dreaming of the days of yore~ Myth and magic~ Camelot and chivalry~ Knights and Ladies~ Dragons, Unicorns and Merlin~ or mayhap lost in the captivating romances of Jane Austen~ or away on a quest in The Lord of the Rings... Stitching, reading and writing and a strong, hot mug of coffee bring peace of mind and soothe my soul... Along with the companionship of my Beloved ~ My dearest family~ my sweet grandchildren are my Angels and a constant source of joy and light... and my faithful companions~ my dear cats are ever by my side... When I’m not stitching and lost in a film I love to curl up with a good book and forget the shadows... The Sea calls to me... Music soothes the savage beast and country lanes and wooded glades fill my soul with peace... Thus you will find me with needle or pen in hand weaving my tales~ heartfelt ramblings of a stitching faery from under the Willow tree...
~Stitchery is "Peaceful Garden" designed by Clara Blalock of The Stitching Parlor...

Tristan and Isolde ~

Unconditional and Everlasting love ~

Love doesn't hide.It stays and protects.It goes the distance,that’s why love is so strong.It can carry you all the way home.~ Pietro Aretino

Joyful Blessings...

The Wind in the Willows...

time is fleeting ~

“Faithless is he that saysfarewell when the road darkens.” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien,The Fellowship of the Ring

Jane Austen would say...

Mr Darcy...

"In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." ~ Mr Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...

Mr Darcy and Lizzy...

Sonnet 29...

When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf Heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself, and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd, Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,With what I most enjoy contented least: Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee,--and then my state (Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate; For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings ~That then I scorn to change my state with kings'.

The Immortal Bard...~ Will Shakespeare ~

Embroidered cloths with love...

aedh wishes for the clothes of heaven...

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, enwrought with golden and silver light, the blue and the dim and the dark cloths of night and light and the half light, I would spread the cloths under your feet. But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

~ W.B.Yeats

The Black Toads...

Mr Toad and friends...

Needlework in Progress... and a few waiting hopefully in my stitching basket...

I am Half Sick of Shadows... Lady of Shalott by HAED... {John William Waterhouse}

~ Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year ~

Come away...

Come away, O Human child! To the waters and the wildWith a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping Than you can understand...

~ William Butler Yeats...

A Sweet Handwork's Pace...

When my days are fulfilledand eternity I face...May this work prove I livedat a Sweet Handwork's pace...

Some of my favourite finishes...

By the Sea by The Sampler Girl... stitched by Lizzy...

Two Souls...

Hearts in Bloom by Blackbird Designs... Stitched by Lizzy

No Place Like Gnome...

No Place Like Gnome by Gloria and Pat... Stitched by Lizzy

My Needle and My Floss...

My Needle and My Floss... by Waxing Moon Designs... stitched by Lizzy

Ladybugs and Bumblebees...

Ladybugs and Bumblebees by Country Cottage Needleworks... stitched by Lizzy

Charles Dickens...

Forget Me Nots in Stitches... stitched by Lizzy

And Two Shall Be As One...

by Lizzie Kate... stitched by Lizzy

Little House Needleworks...

Hen Party... stitched by Lizzy

Stitching mends the soul...

Take your needle, my child, and work at your pattern; it will come out a rose by and by. Life is like that-one stitch at a time taken patiently and the pattern will come out all right like the embroidery...~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Stitching Mends the Soul...

Me thinks it is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics, when women of high thoughts and accomplishments love to sew; especially as they are never more at home with their own hearts than while so occupied...
~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

Jane Austen...

Stitching with Jane Austen...

Her needlework both plain and ornamental was excellent, and she might have put a sewing machine to shame. ~James Edward Austen-Leigh, about Jane Austen

Which Jane Austen Heroine Are You?

You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a little too vocal in your honesty. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels, and play the pianoforte beautifully. To boot, your singing voice is captivating. You feel deeply, and love passionately.

Marianne's Colonel Brandon...

Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon... there can be only one...

Beloved Captain Wentworth...

Captain Wentworth's letter to Anne...

I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own,than when you almost broke it eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone I think and plan. - Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? - I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice, when they would be lost on others.- Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating in...

~F.W.

I must go, uncertain of my fate; but I shall return hither, or followyour party, as soon as possible. A word, a look will be enough to decidewhether I enter your father's house this evening or never.

~ letter from "Persuasion" by Jane Austen...

Blessings...

May there always be work for your hands to do.May your purse always hold a coin or two.May the sun always shine upon your window pane.May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.May the hand of a friend always be near to you andMay God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.~~~~~~~~~

I am half sick of shadows... said the Lady of Shalott...

John William Waterhouse...

The Lady of Shalott...

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye, That clothe the wold and meet the sky; And thro' the field the road runs by To many-tower'd Camelot;And up and down the people go, Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below, The island of Shalott.

Willows whiten, aspens quiver, Little breezes dusk and shiver Thro' the wave that runs for ever By the island in the riverFlowing down to Camelot. Four gray walls, and four gray towers, Overlook a space of flowers,And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott.

By the margin, willow veil'd, Slide the heavy barges trail'dBy slow horses; and unhail'd The shallop flitteth silken-sail'd Skimming down to Camelot: But who hath seen her wave her hand? Or at the casement seen her stand?Or is she known in all the land, The Lady of Shalott?

Only reapers, reaping early In among the bearded barley,Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly, Down to tower'd Camelot: And by the moon the reaper weary, Piling sheaves in uplands airy, Listening, whispers " 'Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott."

PART IIThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay. She has heard a whisper say, A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot. She knows not what the curse may be, And so she weaveth steadily, And little other care hath she,The Lady of Shalott.

And moving thro' a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year, Shadows of the world appear. There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot: There the river eddy whirls, And there the surly village-churls, And the red cloaks of market girls, Pass onward from Shalott.

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad, An abbot on an ambling pad, Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad, Or long-hair'd page in crimson clad, Goes by to tower'd Camelot; And sometimes thro' the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two:She hath no loyal knight and true, The Lady of Shalott.

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirror's magic sights, For often thro' the silent nights A funeral, with plumes and lights And music, went to Camelot: Or when the moon was overhead, Came two young lovers lately wed:"I am half sick of shadows," said The Lady of Shalott.

PART IIIA bow-shot from her bower-eaves, He rode between the barley-sheaves, The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot.A red-cross knight for ever kneel'd To a lady in his shield, That sparkled on the yellow field, Beside remote Shalott.

The gemmy bridle glitter'd free, Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy. The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot: And from his blazon'd baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung, And as he rode his armour rung, Beside remote Shalott.

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burn'd like one burning flame together, As he rode down to Camelot.As often thro' the purple night, Below the starry clusters bright, Some bearded meteor, trailing light, Moves over still Shalott.

His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd; On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode; From underneath his helmet flow'dHis coal-black curls as on he rode, As he rode down to Camelot. From the bank and from the river, He flash'd into the crystal mirror, "Tirra lirra," by the river Sang Sir Lancelot.

She left the web, she left the loom, She made three paces thro' the room, She saw the water-lily bloom, She saw the helmet and the plume, She look'd down to Camelot. Out flew the web and floated wide; The mirror crack'd from side to side;"The curse is come upon me," cried The Lady of Shalott.

PART IVIn the stormy east-wind straining, The pale yellow woods were waning, The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over tower'd Camelot; Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat, And round about the prow she wrote 'The Lady of Shalott'.

And down the river's dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance, Seeing all his own mischance-- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot. And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain, and down she lay; The broad stream bore her far away, The Lady of Shalott.

Lying, robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right-- The leaves upon her falling light-- Thro' the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot: And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among, They heard her singing her last song, The Lady of Shalott.

Heard a carol, mournful, holy, Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,Till her blood was frozen slowly, And her eyes were darken'd wholly, Turn'd to tower'd Camelot. For ere she reach'd upon the tide The first house by the water-side, Singing in her song she died, The Lady of Shalott.

Under tower and balcony, By garden-wall and gallery,A gleaming shape she floated by, Dead-pale between the houses high, Silent into Camelot. Out upon the wharfs they came, Knight and burgher, lord and dame, And round the prow they read her name, The Lady of Shalott.

Who is this? and what is here? And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer; And they cross'd themselves for fear, All the knights at Camelot: But Lancelot mused a little space; He said, "She has a lovely face; God in his mercy lend her grace, The Lady of Shalott."

~Alfred Tennyson, Lord Tennyson 1809–1892

The Lady of Shalott...

Tristan and Isolde ~

before Romeo and Juliet ~ there was Tristan and Isolde ~

Tristan and Isolde ~

My LordsIf you would hear a high tale of love and of death,here is that of Tristan and Queen Iseult;how to their full joy, but to their sorrow also,they loved each other, and how at lastthey died of that love together upon one day;she by him and he by her.

And forever love each other ~

And having drunk they twain should be one heart...

God Speed, my love...

At the time of King Arthur and Queen Guenevere, the King of Lyonesse wedded the sister of King Mark of Cornwall. Thereafter he was unjustly cast into prison when his wife was great with child. Then the young Queen ran mad with grief into the wood and fell into her travail betimes. There she bore a son after many grimly throes, and she called the boy’s name Tristan, for her sorrows, and so she died.Then Merlin brought the King out of his prison, and he married another queen, who ordained to poison Tristan so that her children should enjoy the land. But it happened that the Queen’s own son drank the poison and fell down dead. Then the King drew his sword and said, “Tell me what drinkthis is, or I shall slay thee.” And she fell to her knees, and told him she would have slain Tristan. So she was damned by the assent of the barons to be burned. And as she was brought to the fire, young Tristan knelt to his father and begged the life of his stepmother as a boon. “Take her, then,” said the King, “and may God forgive her, if you can.” So Tristan went to the fire and saved her from her death, and thereafter he was known as a knight great in all chivalry for his bigness and grace.Then the Queen of Ireland made war on King Mark ofCornwall, and Sir Tristan rode to his uncle the King and took the battle on. And the Queen of Ireland had a daughter who was known for her beauty through all the world as La Belle Isolde. She was the most noted healer of all the isles, and despite the enmity between Ireland and Cornwall, she saved Sir Tristan when he suffered a deadly hurt. So King Mark devised to wed a maiden of such praise and swore his nephew Sir Tristan to win Isolde for him. And the Queen of Ireland ordained a drink of such virtue that the day La Belle Isolde should wed, she should drink it with King Mark and either should love the other all the days of their life. But on the sea voyage to Cornwall it chanced that Isolde drank from the flasket with Tristan, and thus happed the love which never departed them, neither for weal nor for woe. After this the Queen of Ireland died, and La Belle Isolde was Ireland’s Queen, but for a knight of Ireland who would be King. So went Isolde into Ireland to claim her own and fell into the hands of this knight, for that Tristan was away with his uncle Mark, whose great jealousy gave him no respite. And the King of France had a daughter known as Blanche Mains for her white hands, which Princess cast great love upon Sir Tristan and would wed no man else. And by cunning she devised to marry him, at the grief whereof Tristan ran mad and Isolde knew not where he was. Much pains ensued until that evil was undone. Yet either still loved the other through many darkly sorrows until the truth was seen.Then Isolde sighed and said, “Well is it true, that therebe in this land but four lovers, Queen Guenevere and Sir Lancelot du Lake, and Sir Tristan de Lyonesse and Queen Isolde, and so I shall send to the Queen.”Then King Mark’s jealousy could not longer be contained, and word was brought to his overlord Queen Igraine that great misery was boding for Isolde in the land. . . .

~~~ Le Morte D'Arthur

How do I love thee...

Tristan and Isolde ~

haunted...

And Death Shall have no dominion...

Though they go mad they shall be sane, Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again; Though lovers be lost love shall not; And death shall have no dominion.

~ Dylan Thomas ...

Though lovers be lost...

Tristan and Isolde ~

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

John William Waterhouse

La Belle Dame Sans Merci, 1819

Oh what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, Alone and palely loitering? The sedge has withered from the lake, And no birds sing.

Oh what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, So haggard and so woe-begone? The squirrel's granary is full, And the harvest's done.

I see a lily on thy brow, With anguish moist and fever-dew,And on thy cheeks a fading rose Fast withereth too.

I met a lady in the meads, Full beautiful - a faery's child, Her hair was long, her foot was light, And her eyes were wild.

I made a garland for her head, And bracelets too, and fragrant zone; She looked at me as she did love, And made sweet moan.

I set her on my pacing steed, And nothing else saw all day long, For sidelong would she bend, and sing A faery's song.

She found me roots of relish sweet, And honey wild, and manna-dew, And sure in language strange she said 'I love thee true'.

She took me to her elfin grot, And there she wept and sighed full sore, And there I shut her wild wild eyes With kisses four.

And there she lulled me asleep And there I dreamed - Ah! woe betide! The latest dream I ever dreamt On the cold hill side.

I saw their starved lips in the gloam, With horrid warning gaped wide, And I awoke and found me here, On the cold hill's side.

And this is why I sojourn here Alone and palely loitering, Though the sedge is withered from the lake, And no birds sing.

~ John Keats

Sir Galahad

Sir Galahad...

My good blade carves the casques of men, My tough lance thrusteth sure, My strength is as the strength of ten, Because my heart is pure. The shattering trumpet shrilleth high, The hard brands shiver on the steel, The splinter'd spear-shafts crack and fly, The horse and rider reel: They reel, they roll in clanging lists, And when the tide of combat stands,Perfume and flowers fall in showers, That lightly rain from ladies' hands.

How sweet are looks that ladies bend On whom their favours fall! For them I battle till the end, To save from shame and thrall: But all my heart is drawn above, My knees are bow'd in crypt and shrine: I never felt the kiss of love, Nor maiden's hand in mine. More bounteous aspects on me beam, Me mightier transports move and thrill; So keep I fair thro' faith and prayer A virgin heart in work and will.

When down the stormy crescent goes, A light before me swims, Between dark stems the forest glows,I hear a noise of hymns: Then by some secret shrine I ride; I hear a voice but none are there; The stalls are void, the doors are wide, The tapers burning fair. Fair gleams the snowy altar-cloth, The silver vessels sparkle clean, The shrill bell rings, the censer swings, And solemn chaunts resound between.

Sometime on lonely mountain-meres I find a magic bark; I leap on board: no helmsman steers: I float till all is dark. A gentle sound, an awful light! Three angels bear the holy Grail: With folded feet, in stoles of white, On sleeping wings they sail. Ah, blessed vision! blood of God! My spirit beats her mortal bars, As down dark tides the glory slides, And star-like mingles with the stars.

When on my goodly charger borne Thro' dreaming towns I go, The cock crows ere the Christmas morn, The streets are dumb with snow. The tempest crackles on the leads, And, ringing, springs from brand and mail; But o'er the dark a glory spreads, And gilds the driving hail. I leave the plain, I climb the height; No branchy thicket shelter yields; But blessed forms in whistling storms Fly o'er waste fens and windy fields.

A maiden knight--to me is given Such hope, I know not fear; I yearn to breathe the airs of heaven That often meet me here. I muse on joy that will not cease, Pure spaces clothed in living beams, Pure lilies of eternal peace, Whose odours haunt my dreams; And, stricken by an angel's hand, This mortal armour that I wear, This weight and size, this heart and eyes,Are touch'd, are turn'd to finest air.

The clouds are broken in the sky, And thro' the mountain-walls A rolling organ-harmony Swells up, and shakes and falls. Then move the trees, the copses nod, Wings flutter, voices hover clear: "O just and faithful knight of God! Ride on! the prize is near." So pass I hostel, hall, and grange; By bridge and ford, by park and pale, All-arm'd I ride, whate'er betide, Until I find the holy Grail.

~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson...

Come live with me and be my love...

Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments; love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O, no, it is an ever-fixèd mark,That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wand'ring bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his heighth be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come; Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

~Sonnet 116~ Will Shakespeare ~~ The Immortal Bard...

With love's light wings...

My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite...~ Romeo and Juliet~Will Shakespeare

the heart that has truly loved never forgets...

Believe me...

Believe me, if all those endearing young charms, Which I gaze on so fondly today, Were to change by tomorrow, and fleet in my arms, Like fairy-gifts fading away, Thou wouldst still be adored, as this moment thou art, Let thy loveliness fade as it will, And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart Would entwine itself verdantly still.

It is not while beauty and youth are thine own, And thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear That the fervor and faith of a soul can be known, To which time will but make thee more dear; No, the heart that has truly loved never forgets, But as truly loves on to the close, As the sunflower turns on her god, when he sets, The same look which she turned when he rose.~ Thomas Moore

Lost Love...

Love's dream...

The Lonely Hunter

Green branches, green branches, I see you beckon; I follow!Sweet is the place you guard, there in the rowan-tree hollow. There he lies in the darkness, under the frail white flowers,Heedless at last, in the silence, of these sweet midsummer hours.

But sweeter, it may be, the moss whereon he is sleeping now, And sweeter the fragrant flowers that may crown his moon-white brow:And sweeter the shady place deep in an Eden hollow Wherein he dreams I am with him -- and, dreaming, whispers, " Follow ! "

Green wind from the green-gold branches, what is the song you bring ? What are all songs for me, now, who no more care to sing? Deep in the heart of Summer, sweet is life to me still, But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill.

Green is that hill and lonely, set far in a shadowy place;White is the hunter's quarry, a lost-loved human face:O hunting heart, shall you find it, with arrow of failing breath, Led o'er a green hill lonely by the shadowy hound of Death?

Green branches, green branches, you sing of a sorrow olden,But now it is midsummer weather, earth-young, sun-ripe, golden: Here I stand and I wait, here in the rowan-tree hollow, But never a green leaf whispers, "Follow, oh, Follow, Follow !"

O never a green leaf whispers, where the green-gold branches swing: O never a song I hear now, where one was wont to sing. Here in the heart of Summer, sweet is life to me still,But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill.

~ William Sharp~ writing as Fiona MacLeod...

Love Lost at Sea ...

A dream of you...

I Would live in your love...

I would live in your love as the sea-grasses live in the sea, Borne up by each wave as it passes, drawn down by each wave that recedes; I would empty my soul of the dreams that have gathered in me, I would beat with your heart as it beats, I would follow your soul as it leads.

True Love Conquers Time...

Arwen and Aragorn...

True Love is Eternal...

Love's Longing...

Hope is the thing with feathersThat perches in the soul,And sings the tune without the words,And never stops at all...~ Emily Dickinson

My beloved...

Pearls of Wisdom...

"I love you. I am who I am because of you. You are every reason,every hope, and every dream I've ever had, and no matter what happens to us in the future, every day we are together is the greatest day of my life. I will always be yours."— Nicholas Sparks The Notebook